American Pageant fourteenth edition chapter 1 terms
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| 586598640 | Acoma, Battle of (1599) | Fought between Spaniards under Don Juan de Oñate and the Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico. Spaniards brutally crushed the Pueblo peoples and established the territory as New Mexico in 1609. | 1 | |
| 586598641 | Aztecs | Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by Spanish Hernán Cortés. The Aztecs maintained control over their vast empire through a system of trade and tribute, and came to be known for their advances in mathematics and writing, and their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies | 2 | |
| 586598642 | Black Legend | False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their gold in the name of Christ. | 3 | |
| 586598643 | Cahokia (c. 1100 A.D.) | Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as 25,000 Native Americans. | 4 | |
| 586598644 | Canadian Shield | First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level | 5 | |
| 586598645 | caravel | Small regular vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. Caravels could sail more closely into the wind, allowing European sailors to explore the Western shores of Africa, previously made inaccessible due to prevailing winds on the homeward journey. | 6 | |
| 586598646 | civilization | Form of political society that traditionally combines centralized government with a high degree of ethnic and cultural unity. The Aztec and Inca empires in South America are early examples of civilizations in the New World. | 7 | |
| 586598647 | Columbian Exchange | The transfer of goods, crops and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492. | 8 | |
| 586598648 | conquistadores | Sixteenth-century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires. | 9 | |
| 586598649 | encomienda | Spanish government's policy to "commend," or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland. | 10 | |
| 586598650 | Incas | Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present-day Peru until they were conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro in 1532. The Incas developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains. | 11 | |
| 586598651 | mestizos | People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico. | 12 | |
| 586598652 | middlemen | In trading systems, those dealers who operate between the original producers of goods and the retail merchants who sell to consumers. After the eleventh century, European exploration was driven in large part by a desire to acquire alluring Asian goods without paying heavy tolls to Muslim middlemen. | 13 | |
| 586598653 | noche triste (June 30, 1520) | "Sad night", when the Aztecs attacked Hernán Cortés and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochitlán, killing hundreds. Cortés laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec Empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule. | 14 | |
| 586598654 | plantation | Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor. European settlers established plantations in Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the American South. | 15 | |
| 586598655 | Popé's Rebellion (1680) | Pueblo Indian rebellion which drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico. | 16 | |
| 586598656 | three-sister farming | Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 A.D.; maize, beans and squash were grown together to maximize yields. | 17 | |
| 586598657 | Tordesillas, Treaty of (1494) | Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia. | 18 |
